"I Want a Wife" Essay Analysis

My God, Why Would a Woman Want a Wife?Judy Syfers in the essay, “I Want a Wife”, argues implicitly that wives and mothers are underappreciated for what they do and what they do is more than what their counterparts do; women are being treated unequal to men. Judy Syfers supports her claim by using the three major modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. The author’s purpose is to get women to take action and to get men to feel sympathy and treat women equally. The author writes to married men, who do not appreciate their wives and married women, who need to realize what is happening to them. However, she also writes to men and women who are not married in order to prevent men and women from living like a stereotypical couple.

In the introduction, Syfers uses ethos to gain the audience’s trust and to prove she is a credible person to be writing an essay about this topic by saying, “I belong to a classification of people known as wives. I am A Wife. And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother.” (p. 261) By claiming this in the beginning, she is gaining the audience’s trust because it makes it seem like she has had first hand experience and everything to follow in the essay is true. It lets the audience know where the information she is giving them is coming from and that she did not just get the facts from another source.

Throughout the essay, Syfers uses pathos to appeal to the audience’s emotions by repeating, “I want a wife to/who…” (Syfers) followed by a “wife’s duty”. She does this to rile up the audience’s emotions. She wants women to feel like they have been treated unfairly and to make them take a stand to be treated the same way men are treated, and she wants men to feel sympathy for women and realize they have been treating women unequally. Syfers strongest hit to the audience’s emotion is last question, “My God, who wouldn’t want a wife?”(p. 263) It makes people realize that the reasons why...

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...IWant A WifeAnalysis
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A “wife” is defined as a “married woman considered in relation (married) to her husband” (Dictionary.com). Throughout the years, the status of a ‘wife’ held little value. Judy Brady's "IWant A Wife” is a satirical piece that explores the traditional roles women play in a family. The purpose of this essay is to provide a crystal clear unbalanced portrayal of the conditions of the common ‘wife’ during the 60’s and 70’s. While Brady outlines a ‘wife's’ responsibilities she introduces her audience to a crucial point: that there is a distinct difference, specifically inequality, between the roles of women and men.
Brady's intent is to have her audience look objectively at a husband’s position and his expectations; of what a ‘wife’ is and ought to be. She uses examples of male selfishness in order to convince her audience that male and female roles are unequal. Her audience includes both single and married women. Furthermore, Brady attempts to reach out to single men and husbands by getting them to understand the egocentric expectations they place on a ‘wife.’ Brady's use of skillfully arranged, rhetoric generates a persuasive argument. She uses rhetoric throughout her writing with appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos.
In the...

...﻿Analysis: Why IWant A Wife by Judy Brady
1. What is the tone of the essay? Is she serious?
The tone in the essay is casual, humorous, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic. The author lists multiple jobs which a wife does and is expected by many to do in many instances. She does the same jobs in her life for her husband and children but now she seems to not like to do them anymore and wants a wife for her to help out. Also, she describes the attitude of men wanting a wife in his life, so he can hinge on her everything and do whatever he want to do in his life. She is showing how selfish and sexist ideas of men are prevalent.
She is not serious in the story. She doesn’t literally want a wife. The main examples given in the story highlight the author’s sarcasm. Brady says that she wants a wife who will work and send her to school so that she would not have to work as hard while working to become more independent. While it is worthy of respect to have a man want to become more independent, it is just as worthy of disrespect that he would expect the woman to work to support the family by herself during the time it takes to do this.
2. How does the author use Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to develop her argument?
Ethos: Credibility -trust
Pathos:...

...presented in Judy Brady’s 1971 essay, "Why IWant a Wife."
In "Why IWant a Wife," Brady offers hypothetical criteria for an ideal wife in a satirical commentary on how the work of wives is often taken for granted. The humor of the essay lies in its structure: on the surface it seems to accept the criteria it puts forth, while the meaning actually operates in the recognition that the narrator is being sarcastic.
Using writing as one of her tools for activism, Judy (Syfers) Brady has established herself as a supporter of the women’s movement since she began more than thirty years ago. In "Why IWant a Wife," she narrates a setting that mocks the situations and obligations wives find themselves immersed in. The narrator draws on her own experiences to present examples of how “good” wives are expected to behave. The satirical critique emerges as the narrator thinks through her reasons for wanting a wife. The language used has a satirical edge evident in both the author’s emphasis on certain modifiers (indicated by italics) and in the surface structure of the sentences, which belies the underlying criticisms. The audience should recognize the sarcasm from the language and attitude of the narrator. Now let's consider all the elements supporting her satirical point, beginning with the author's...

...
Iwant a wife
Marriage is one of the basic institutions of society. The article “IWant a Wife”, written by Judy Brady in 1971, illustrates the role of women in marriage. She humorously criticizes wife’s duties which range from doing chores and tasks such as laundry, cooking, cleaner, and helper to take care of the husband’s physical, mental, social, and sexual needs. Also, in her essay, she defines a wife as a nurse, an assistant, a host, and a nanny. She wants a wife for her to help out. Brady complains about what women are expected to do after getting married. The duties of a wife seem to necessitate making life comfortable and easy for everyone in the family except for the wife herself. Brady tries to bring a different thought on how woman looks through the eyes of a man. When she discusses on a man’s point of view, how easy it would be if she had a wife. The point she is getting across to the readers is that wives are undervalued, but their husbands still need them for their convenience in life. Today, women are able to reach the equality to men and they should be more respected.
Briefly, the gender roles in the families are changing.
While women as wives are working for their careers along with taking care all of the members in her family, the men as husbands do not do anything to...

...Judy Brady's Iwant a wife
In Judy Brady’s essay, “IWant a Wife”, she explores why she would like to have a wife. Brady’s style and structure contribute to her theme of female repression. Various style techniques, such as repetition and irony, are used along with the structural technique of using levels of intimacy. One of Brady’s main style techniques is the use of repetition. She is constantly describing what she wants in a wife and the duties that the wife should take care of: “Iwant a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints about a wife’s duties.” Brady believes that the wife does everything and the husband does nothing but expect his wife to do everything. Her repetition of “I” shows the husband’s selfish viewpoint: “Iwant a wife who will work……” These things range from doing chores and tasks, such as laundry and cooking, to just keeping us satisfied in life, dealing with our mental, physical, social, and sexual needs.
The essay states, sarcastically, society’s view of a husband and wife and the role they play. Her assertion is that too much is expected of wives and they should be respected for all the tasks they must complete. Ms. Brady’s...

...BRADY
IWant a Wife (1971)
Judy Brady’s essay became an instant classic when it appeared in 1971 in the premier
issue of the feminist magazine Ms. As you read, analyze the definitions of “husband” and
“wife” that Brady uses, and consider why this essay became so powerful in the 1970s.
I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am A Wife. And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother.
Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh from a
recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex-wife. He is looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I was ironing one evening, it
suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would like to have a wife. Why do Iwant a
wife?
I would like to go back to school so that I can become economically independent, support myself, and, if need be, support those dependent upon me. Iwant a wife who will work and send me to school. And while I am going to school
Iwant a wife to take care of my children. Iwant a wife to keep track of the children’s...

... 2012
“IWant A Wife” by Judy Brady
Meaning
1) According to Brady, wife is who takes care of every households, children, and husband. Also person who only works for her children and husband but not herself.
2) In Brady’s word a wife’s responsibilities are take care of the children, for example, to prepare them for school, make sure they are eaten, and clean. Also of course another responsibility is to take care of her husband. There are some expected behaviors from a wife. For example, when husband invite his friends, the wife should serve properly. When they get invited from somewhere, the wife is responsible for the babysitting arrangement. Also the other expected behavior is to be sensitive to her husband’s sexual needs however when her husband is not in the mood she should not demand sexual attention.
Purpose and Audience
1) Brady wrote this essay to show the hard work that wives had to do at the time this essay published. Nowadays wives can raise their voice and they want equality but in the past it wasn’t like that so it think she wanted to emphasize the hard work that women at that time had to get done.
-- I think her purpose was to explain a wife’s duties by kind of making fun of men and little bit by complain about her own situation.
-- I think she definitely tries to provide a...

...Iwant a wife
Published in 1971, “Iwant a wife” written by Judy Brady illustrates successfully the role of women in marriage. Brady humorously mentions a wife’s duties which range from doing chores and tasks, such as laundry and cooking, to take care of the husband’s mental, physical, social, and sexual needs. The repetition of “Iwant a wife who will…” is used effectively to emphasis the husband’s selfishness. Brady is right when she lays out a list of what most women are expected do after getting married. She defines “a wife” as a hard worker, a maid, a nurse, a chef, an assistant, a host and a mother. She gives a fair view of the classic role of women in families. Throughout almost forty years, although everything has not changed completely, it has improved so much. Today, women become more independent and have a voice in families. Women, in some ways, are able to reach the equality between women and men.
First of all, women have a legal status in law. Back to the early history of the United States, a married woman was defined as being one with the husband. A man virtually owned his wife and children as he did his material possessions. If a poor man chose to send his children to the poorhouse, the mother was legally defenseless to object. Some communities, however, modified the common law to allow...